The most important ceremony of the academic year was attended by representatives of the entire community of the WMU headed by the Rector and Vice-Rectors of the MUW: Prof. Agnieszka Cudnoch-Jędrzejewska, the Vice Rector for Human Resources and Organizational Affairs, Prof. Marek Kuch, the Vice Rector for Student Affairs and Education, Prof. Piotr Pruszczyk, the Vice-Rector for Science and Technology Transfer; Prof. Wojciech Lisik, the Vice-Rector for Clinical Affairs and Investment and Prof. Paweł Włodarski, the Vice-Rector for Internationalization, Promotion and Development.
The inauguration was also attended by: Tomasz Grodzki, the Marshal of the Senate of the Polish Parliament, Grażyna Ignaczak-Bandych, the Head of the Chancellery of the Polish President, Representatives of the Ministry of Education and Science, Rectors of Warsaw universities, Prof. Marek Krawczyk, the former rector of the MUW, Representatives of the Polish Academy of Sciences and its scientific institutes, Representatives of institutions related to the WMU and involved in medicine and health care, Directors of hospitals and the MUW’s companies, Representatives of the Catholic Church and of other denominations.
Rector Zbigniew Gaciong, referring to the mission of the WMU, emphasized how important students of all faculties are for both the university and for the entire health care system. He thanked the employees for the past year and emphasized that, despite the difficulties resulting from the pandemic, it had been possible to implement the study program in whole. He pointed out that WMU is a university with a great potential, which has been proven by international rankings and by the number of completed projects. He also encouraged students to take full advantage of the university’s offer not only in science but also in culture, sport and social life.
The audience gathered in the Auditorium of the Teaching Center also listened to the speech of Tomasz Grodzki, the Marshal of the Senate of the Polish Parliament, and to the reading of the congratulatory letter from the Polish President, which was handed over by Grażyna Ignaczak-Bandych, the Head of the President’s Chancellery. Sławomir Adamiec, the General Director, took the floor on behalf of Przemysław Czarnek, the Minister of Education and Science. Congratulatory letters from Elżbieta Witek, the Marshal of the Parliament, and Mateusz Morawiecki, the Prime Minister, were also read.
On behalf of students starting their first year and of newly admitted doctoral students, the oath was taken by students who obtained the best results in the recruitment procedure for the individual fields of study.
Topical speeches were also given by Jakub Olszewski, the President of the Student Self-Government, and Andrzej Patyra, the Chairman of the Doctoral Students’ Self-Government.
The inaugural lecture on “New technologies in the development of vaccines” was delivered by Prof. Jakub Gołąb from the Department of Immunology of the WMU. He explained how infections develop and what our immune response looks like. He also explained the functioning of the mRNA vaccine.
The ceremony was graced by a concert of the WMU’s Choir conducted by Daniel Synowiec. The artists performed songs representing various musical genres: from folk to popular music.
In connection with the Inauguration of the Academic Year, the WMU received congratulatory letters from:
- Andrzej Duda, the Polish President;
- Elżbieta Witek, the Marshal of the Parliament;
- Mateusz Morawiecki, the Prime Minister;
- Przemysław Czarnek, the Minister of Education and Science;
- Marlena Maląg, the Minister of Family and Social Policy;
- Marcin Wiąck, the Commissioner for Human Rights;
- Konstanty Radziwiłł, the Governor of the Mazovian Province;
- Adam Struzik, the Marshal of the Mazovian Province;
- Rafał Trzaskowski, the Mayor of Warsaw.
Due to the epidemic situation, this year’s ceremony was held with a limited number of participants. All interested parties could watch the ceremony on-line.
